Antiques Roadshow

Guess what?! I went to the Antiques Roadshow on Saturday!! My dear friend Nancy entered her name in the lottery pool for tickets to the Roadshow and she was chosen and received two tickets. And she invited me! Ok, so I begged a little. Ok, so a lot. Anyway, it was the BEST day! Electrifying! So exhilarating! It was held at the downtown Phoenix Convention Center with 80 appraisers appraising 20 different categories.
Anyway, I had two months to narrow down what two items I would bring for appraisal. And it was not easy. I finally chose the following two items. Here's their story:


Many, many years ago after a concert at a church, Randy was given this turquoise ring by an older gentleman as a love offering. We were in full-time ministry, with three young children, living by faith... what in the heck would we do with a big, gaudy ring? I threw it in a drawer and never thought about it again till the Roadshow came along.


Well, that ring, from that older gentleman was appraised between $300- $400!!! I was shocked! Thanks dear, thoughtful, generous man. I'm likin gaudy.


Over 20 years ago I was at a yard sale and there was a stack of prints that had come from an art gallery and were being sold for a dollar each. I chose this particular lithograph because it seemed to be a painting of Arizona. Be sure to click pic to enlarge. Well I never thought about it again till Friday morning. I found it and googled the title and two hours later I knew I had to bring it.

Here's what I found out-
"Valley of the Gila & Sierra De Las Estrellas from the Maricopa Wells"
This is an interesting lithograph of the painting by A. H. Campbell showing surveyors in camp. In the 1850s the U.S. government ordered exploration and surveys done, primarily for the purpose of determining a route for a transcontinental railroad. As a part of this exploration a team of naturalists and artists accompanied the expedition and their work was published as a part of the official report.

And then this-
P13. 1857 "Valley of the Gila & Sierra de las Estrellas from the Maricopa Wells" U.S, Pacific Railroad Survey. Tinted Lithograph,6x9. A survey party beds down for the night by a large cactus with mountains in the background and an Indian lounging off to one side. Pretty little print and noteworthy for depicting the site of present-day PHOENIX, AZ. VG+ with one small stain in the margin outside the border. $80.00


Did you catch that!! This painting is the site of present-day Phoenix, Arizona! It was appraised at $150.00!! I was thrilled!


You know how much I love a good story. In fact, whenever I buy anything at a yard sale, I will invariably ask if there is a story behind the item. Well, here you have the ultimate yard sale... 5000 people, bringing two items each... that's 10,000 stories. This place was filled with people willing and eager to tell theirs stories. I was in heaven. We heard so many cool stories while waiting in our various lines. We'd try to find them later to see what their items were actually worth.


This cute couple told us about their treasures while in line and then we actually ran in to them 4 hours later. The Arts 'n Craft lamp appraised at $2000 and the vase for $1000 and the painting for $1000.


They also had an area at the Roadshow where you could be filmed talking about one of your items and about your experience at the Roadshow. They use these sound bites at the end of each show while the credits are rolling.


As you can tell, I loved being interviewed, I love the limelight and I am hoping that I make the cut on one of the three segments from this Roadshow that will be airing on PBS sometime in 2010. Hey, it could happen.


We ran in to our friends Kit Danley and her daughter Heather Ryan. Kit brought her grandmother's collection of breathtaking watercolor paintings by an artist that only painted black women and birds. (I will post the name when I find out) The collection was appraised at $6000.
**** The artist is Karl Priebe, considered one of the magic realists, painting during the '40's - '60's. Thanks Kit.


And we had the best time hanging with our friends Cary Case and Jon Clarke. They are so much fun and they are the best storytellers. Jon found his Indian photo in a dumpster and it appraised at $150! Cary's painting has been in his family for over 100 years and is considered to be over 300 years old. They were unable to appraise it because it is not signed. But hopefully after some further research, x-rays and cleaning, it will be appraised for a pretty penny. Anyway, I sure love these guys.


Check out more Antique Roadshow pics on Nancy's blog. Thanks Nancy for giving me a thrill-of-a-lifetime!